The Stayton High boys soccer squad took home the Class 4A title with a nail-biting 1-0 win against district foe North Marion on Nov. 15 at Liberty High in Hillsboro.
The Eagles finished 17-0-1 overall and went virtually wire-to-wire as the top-ranked team in Class 4A. The championship was the third for veteran coach Chris Shields, following state wins in 2010 and 2020. Shields, in his 23rd year with the program, also has runner-up finishes in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. He passed the 250 win mark earlier this season.
Freshman Cesar Perez, who came on as a substitute, scored the title match’s lone goal in the 50th minute by slotting a pass from Johnny Garcia into the bottom left corner with his right foot.
“It was an excellent pass from Johnny Garcia which split the North Marion defense,” Shields told Our Town. “He (Perez) was in the right spot at the right time and put the ball under the goalie. It was his third game-winning goal this season.”
Stayton dominated the action throughout, notching 19 shots to just six for the Huskies, who finished 8-5-3. The title match marked the Eagles’ third win of the season against North Marion, following 2-1 and 2-0 wins during the Oregon West Conference season.
“We had the control from an offensive standpoint, (but) their goalie (Jaden Ortiz Paredes) is really good and kept things clean,” Shields said. “Against anyone else, I think we would have gone up by one or two in the first half. We knew we had to hunt for a goal and keep the pressure on them (because) if they were able to score, they were good enough to keep that lead.”
Ortiz Paredes finished with six saves for the Huskies, while Ty Williams of Stayton stopped three shots.
Shields brought on just two subs, Perez and Josiah Dessieux, with eight starters (Yael Villazana Gonzalez, Jose Navarro, Garcia, Noah Klampe, Omar Villazana Gonzalez, Miguel Ceballos and Williams all playing the full 80 minutes. Ruben Bell played 79.
Shields offered praise for his team’s attitude and buy-in.
They had a “lack of ego, a willingness to get behind an idea, and (were) willing to do whatever it took to win,” Shields said.
The veteran coach said he had a good feeling about this year’s team after the 2024 season ended with a 2-1 semifinal loss to Henley of Klamath Falls.
“Yes, we had many of the key pieces off last year’s roster return, which gave us the needed playoff experience,” Shields said. “We had a ton of depth, which was huge, so when a player went down we were able to make an adjustment where in previous years that wouldn’t have been possible.”
A pleasant surprise, Shields said, was the performance of Perez.
“Cesar had some much-needed goals in some big moments this year, which was great, considering he is only a freshman,” Shields said.
Next year looks promising as well as, in addition to Perez, Bell, Navarro, Klampe, Omar Villazana Gonzalez, Ceballos and Dessieux all are underclassmen.
